1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alarming system for vehicle and an alarm generating method for vehicle, and in particular, to a system and method for generating an alarm against an obstacle existing on the side of the vehicle and in front thereof.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, systems for detecting an obstacle or the like with which the vehicle may contact during traveling and for generating an alarm in the vehicle have been developed. These systems intend to urge by the alarm the occupants, in particular, the driver, to take caution so as to avoid the contact with the obstacle.
Such systems are disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 07-291064 and the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-339595, which are described below. The system disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 07-291064 detects, using image processing, an obstacle existing in the periphery of the vehicle, and generates an alarm corresponding to the distance to the obstacle. The system disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-339595 predicts an obstacle existing on the traveling locus calculated from the steering angle of the vehicle, and generates an alarm if a contact may occur.
In the conventional examples, however, there are following disadvantages. First, in the system disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 07-291064, an obstacle is detected using image processing. Therefore, it is difficult to recognize an object existing far away, which causes a problem that the recognizing accuracy is low. In particular, it is difficult to cope with environmental changes such as whether, and also difficult to perform high-speed processing. In turn, in order to realize high-speed processing, a CPU, for example, having higher performance must be used. This results in an increase in the cost.
In the system disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-339595, a possibility of a contact with an obstacle is determined by calculating the traveling locus of the vehicle, when turning right or left, for example. Therefore, if the obstacle is a pedestrian, a two-wheel barrow (e.g. motorcycle, bicycle) or the like, that is, a moving obstacle, the movement of the obstacle cannot be predicted. This causes a problem that a faulty determination may take place, since the system cannot effectively cope with a moving obstacle.